


Events in Eastal

by Rikkamaru



Series: Maybe Together We Can Get Somewhere [2]
Category: Log Horizon
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, MMORPGs, Road Trips, Takes place after season one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-10-19 21:22:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17609219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rikkamaru/pseuds/Rikkamaru
Summary: Shiroe, Akatsuki, and Naotsugu decide to travel around Eastal for their vacation, while things back home get a little tense. Shenanigans ensue, lore is uncovered, and people start to wonder where the Villain in Glasses is hiding while he's not even in the city and the Round Table definitely doesn't panic about this.





	1. Acquiring an Astrolabe

**Author's Note:**

> I will be grabbing from the anime, light novels, some of the translated information from the TRPG, and from existing MMOs and their mechanics to write this.

When they finished setting up camp they spent the rest of the day exploring the area. “You’re certain there are ruins nearby?” Shiroe asked in interest as they made their way through the foliage.

Naotsugu shrugged, the movement exaggerated by the size of his pauldrons. “Should be. We checked out the map you’d copied of the area and set off in the right direction while you were sleeping, so it should be around here somewhere.”

Shiroe hummed in understanding. Based on the movement of the wagon, paths, and sun, they’ve been heading roughly west. Maybe they were planning to travel along the coast? That sounded like it would take far longer than the amount of time they’d allotted for themselves. Maybe they were simply hitting random towns within the Eastal area.

As he contemplated this Naotsugu moved a large branch out of the way of the direction they were taking and made a sound. “Found it!” He declared, sounding pleased with himself. Shiroe peeked around them the Guardian’s shoulder and, indeed, a sprawling ruin laid before them. It looked like it could have once been a compound, or perhaps a fallen castle. Shiroe contacted Akatsuki to tell her of their discovery and give a brief description of where they were. “Do you know if Li Gan-san wishes to go in with us?” He asked, and she grew quiet for a moment.

“I am not certain, my lord. I will go and ask him, and if he wishes to accompany us we will meet you at the entrance to the ruin.”

“Sounds good,” he said, before letting the telepathy end and filling Naotsugu in on any part he couldn’t hear.

“Alright!” Naotsugu cheered, a grin splitting his face as he took lead and went down to the ruins. “We haven’t had a chance to do this since we got sent here! Do you remember much about this place?”

“The Minowa Ruins used to be little more than a rough labyrinth of crumbling walls and motes that have widened and branched from years of inattention. It was a popular location to take new members of a combat guild to make them comfortable with formation and communication between different party members, and a way to train people to use their crowd control abilities. However,” he cupped his chin in thought, following behind Naotsugu, “if I’m not mistaken some of the advertisement for Homesteading the Noosphere was that they were revamping already existing ruins to include more lore and places to explore, so who knows what could have been added.”

“Whatever it is, we’re still level 90,” Naotsugu said easily, not particularly bothered by the lack of information. “Nothing here should lead to a wipe from the sound of things.”

“True.” Nevertheless, Shiroe quietly cast Keen Edge on Naotsugu’s blade, before doing so again for Akatsuki when she arrived with Li Gan in tow.

“Thank you, my lord,” the Assassin said with a small nod. “As you can see, the Sage has wished to accompany us through the ruins.”

“Yes, yes,” the Elf twiddled his fingers in excitement as he gazed at the ruin beyond them, not noticing as Shiroe cast Astral Chaff on him to prevent any unpleasant surprises from killing the Lander. “It’s a bit of an open secret amongst scholars that ancient places have unique interactions with Half-Alvs, and I’m hoping that Shiroe-sama’s presence here will lead to some fascinating reactions from the place itself.”

Shiroe was unbothered by the admission and nodded in understanding. “Very well. I will ask that you stay beside me at the very least; unlike us you cannot be brought back Li Gan-san.”

Li Gan brightened further, if that were possible. “Of course, Shiroe-sama. I would be happy to do so.”

And so, with a formation somewhat cemented, they went through the ruins, trying to find any place where traps or mobs may have changed and doing their best to keep the Sage alive. Fortunately it appeared that the level range for the ruins hadn’t changed, and aside from some dog-sized scorpions and shambling corpses they managed to get their way to the center of the starter maze. Akatsuki was still on high-alert but Naotsugu had relaxed, his sword balanced on his shoulder. “I’m not seeing anything new, Shiro,” he said with a frown, and Shiroe shrugged.

“I suppose it would have been presumptuous to assume every dungeon would have secrets to unlock,” he said, before opening the chest to see if any of the items in it would be good for their younger guild members.

Three things happened right then.

First, Shiroe’s tongue began to burn as the sigil there lit up with power.

Second, the ground beneath them all began to glow with the exact same sigil.

Third, Shiroe was able to cast Slow Fall on everyone before the ground gave way beneath the symbol of the Alvs and they went careening into the darkness below.

* * *

Walking around Akiba now that Minori knew Shiroe had left due to how hostile it had felt to him was like walking onto a battlefield where the enemy hadn’t yet realized she fought for the other side.

People would call out greetings to her and smile at her like nothing was wrong, but she couldn’t stop worrying. When would they turn against her? When would the friendly smiles turn into suspicious glares? When would they start thinking of her the way they thought of her mentor? After a while Minori realized she was contemplating hiding herself away in the guild hall and shook her head to dismiss the thought, assuring the confused Lander she was buying food from that she was fine.

There wasn’t anything they could do to her in the town, she reminded herself. The guard system prevented people from engaging in combat within the town, and if they tried to treat her improperly by charging her more for things or refusing service she could simply go to the Round Table and put in a formal complaint against the people in question.

Maybe that’s how Shiroe thought about everything, she contemplated. He would reason that they couldn’t harm him and the support of the entirety of the Round Table council would stay their hands from other creative ways to get back at him for perceived slights.

But he also wasn’t in the habit of reaching out to others when he was troubled, be it for help or support. Even if they were treating him poorly, her mentor wouldn’t have told the rest of the Round Table; he would feel it was his issue to deal with alone, even though this ill-will almost seemed to run rampant through the populace.

That realization gnawed at her as she finished shopping, her movements near-robotic as she walked down the streets of Akiba to go back home. Was there anything she could do about it? Not really. What would the word of some low-leveled Kannagi mean to anyone, particularly the words of a child? It could possibly even make it worse, she thought with a curl of dread. They could say he told her to say that, that he had manipulated her like he’d supposedly done to the Princess.

Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt as she crashed into someone and, try as she might, Minori couldn’t hold back her cry of dismay as her groceries fell to the ground. She crouched down to start collecting the items, and didn’t look up until she heard a familiar voice say, “Oh gosh, I’m so sorry Minori-chan! I wasn’t look at all at where I was going!”

Minori looked up in surprise. “Oh, Marielle-san! It’s alright,” she smiled nervously and went back to gathering the fallen items, biting back the instinct to insist she could handle it when she saw Marielle join her in getting everything together. “I was distracted as well.”

Despite not looking at her, the Kannagi could imagine the surprise on the woman’s face when she heard her stop moving. “Oh?” Marielle asked in interest, slowly returning to putting some of the now slightly bruised apples back into their paper bag. “What had you lost in thought? I was thinking about holding another festival soon,” the woman admitted easily, all but beaming when Minori peeked over at her. “The Libra Festival was a huge success and it would help keep everyone happy if they knew what to look forward to. And festivals are always a blast!”

Minori perked up a little at the thought. “That sounds great, Marielle-san! I think Touya and the others would be excited to hear about that!”

Marielle winked and stuck her tongue out playfully. “Who knows? I might even be able to impress Shiroe himself with that idea! I plan to bring it up at the next Round Table meeting so keep it a secret until – Minori-chan, are you alright?”

The Cleric suddenly looked concerned, and Minori couldn’t blame her. She hadn’t been able to keep herself from frowning at her mentor’s name, the guild’s situation suddenly rushing back to her. At Marielle’s question Minori felt the heat of shame creep up her neck; she’s only known about Shiroe’s departure for a few hours and she was already failing to keep it from others.

The thought lingered uncomfortably for a moment before a new one took its place. Maybe Marielle could help her? If she knew what was going on at Log Horizon, she could try and help Minori improve Shiroe’s reputation within the city. Also, she could keep a secret if it was important, and Shiroe getting a chance to actually relax would surely be important to her.

Her mind made up, Minori steeled herself and looked at Marielle. “I’m alright,” she said. “But I think I need your help. Would you please come to Log Horizon’s guild hall with me? I want to talk in private.”

The Cleric blinked in surprise but didn’t seem too bothered. “Of course, Minori-chan. I’d be happy to help you out.”

Minori nodded her thanks before she walked with Marielle back to her guild hall, and hoped Nyanta would understand.

* * *

Akatsuki let out a breath of relief when she finally touched down on floor of the chasm that had opened beneath them. “Excellent reflexes, my lord,” she complimented, but Shiroe just waved away her words with an embarrassed smile.

“It’s an old habit from a particularly grueling jumping puzzle,” he deflected, and Akatsuki was about to point out that, regardless, that was an impressive conversion of game-only habits to their new lives when Naotsugu spoke up and she remembered that Li Gan was with them and so subsided with a grumble.

“You’re talking about those floating platforms in Iceland, aren’t you?” He groaned like he was in physical pain even as he stretched his arms out, finally free of the magic Shiroe had cast on them all. “That was _years_ ago, and I had only just forgotten about it. I wanted to _kill_ KR when he messed up on the second to last jump and we had to start over.”

Shiroe chuckled, the sound still foreign to Akatsuki’s ears but not unpleasant in the least. “Just think, now we can just take the griffins up next time,” he said to comfort his friend, and Naotsugu perked up for a moment before something appeared to cross his mind and he slumped down again.

“Now we’re bound to run into a bunch that are all indoors and won’t be able to summon the griffins at all,” he moaned out, and Akatsuki watched her lord roll his eyes before turning to check on Li Gan before heading deeper into the tunnel that was the only way forward for them. As he moved he summon his light spirit, which floated above him in curiosity, and Akatsuki slunk to follow in his shadow.

“Has this ever happened before, my lord?” She asked, curious of what he knew about this place, but his grimace gave her an idea of his answer before he spoke.

“Not that I know of,” he said, before reaching out his hand to run along the side of the wall. It looked carved, meticulous. Not the result of some natural phenomenon. “I’ve helped Crescent Moon members with this area when Mari-nee told me some of her guild were curious about dungeons, and DDD members used this as a primer for dungeons as well. They would’ve posted it on some forum if they had come across such a thing.” He rested his chin in his hand as he thought. “The moment seemed to coincide with the sigil on my tongue burning so it might need a Half-Alv for the event to occur, but Rieze of DDD’s Three Crows is a Half-Alv.” He hummed in thought as he mulled over who else would’ve possibly seen this, and Akatsuki frowned.

“You have a sigil on your tongue, my lord?” She asked, confused, and Shiroe looked back at her.

“Hm? Ah, yes. All Half-Alvs have the symbols of the Alvs on their tongues. It’s one of the few ways to distinguish them from Humans, and the xenophobia some people display towards them makes them defensive and upset if asked to show their tongue to someone.” He looked ahead again. “I think I see a wider opening ahead.” He said, changing the subject, and Akatsuki shelved what he’d told her away to think about later.

The opening was to a large chamber, the size impossible to tell with the only source of light being the spirit her lord had summoned. The edge of what looked to be a platform barely entered their vision, and she heard Naotsugu curse from beside her while Li Gan hummed in interest, likely able to see more with his Elven eyesight. “Shiroe-sama, there appears to be a device in the middle of the room,” he said, fascinated, and her lord sighed.

“Good to know, thank you Li Gan-san. You guys stay here, I’ll be right back.” His piece said, Shiroe walked further into the room with his light spirit following faithfully behind him. Akatsuki frowned but stayed in place; she could instantly make her way to her lord’s side should something be amiss. She heard Naotsugu shift in discomfort beside her but couldn’t even see him in the darkness. They both calmed as Li Gan hummed again.

A few seconds later the room lit up enough to reveal its true size, and Akatsuki didn’t hesitate to sprint to Shiroe’s side when she spotted the man at some console in the center of the room where the platform was.

Which was holding up some sort of large spherical contraption.

The Assassin stared at the thing in curiosity once she stood beside Shiroe, and tugged a little at his sleeve. “My lord, what is this?”

“It looks like a spherical astrolabe, but it’s all out of alignment,” he told her, utterly fascinated. He glanced back at the console. “I think I can realign it with this.” He poked one of the levers and they watched as one of the bands around the astrolabe shifted along its axis. He let out a breath and threw his arms back so that his robe was no longer in the way. “Alright then,” he said, before getting to work.

Akatsuki watched in interest as he messed with the various controls and the astrolabe twirled before them, Naotsugu and Li Gan joining her in viewing the spectacle. She glanced at Li Gan for a moment. “Can you help him?” she asked, but he immediately shook his head.

“I’m afraid not. Alven technology only responds to those with Alven blood.” He sounded frustrated for a moment, and when she glanced over there was a very real scowl on his face before it smoothed out to the simple interest he’d shown before.

After a while they heard an almost deafening sound as the astrolabe seemed to click into place, and Shiroe made a noise that wasn’t quite a yelp. When they spun around to see what was wrong, her lord was holding a flat device that seemed to have popped out of the console, but the room hadn’t gone dark with its removal. He looked back at them and said, “I think I got it,” before the console flashed and light overtook Akatsuki’s vision.

When she managed to blink the spots out of her eyes, she realized they were at the entrance to the ruins once again.

They stared at the entrance until Li Gan finally said, “A lovely start to the vacation.”


	2. Starting the Search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Shiroe begin to search for the connection between the stars and the Alvs while Minori brings Marielle into her plans to try and change the city.

“So do you think this is going to be useful, Shiro?” Naotsugu asked in interest, tapping the astrolabe his friend had managed to find. The device didn’t move, and Naotsugu leaned back as Shiroe ran his hand along the surface of it.

“I don’t know,” he admitted easily, his honestly warming Naotsugu’s chest as his friend slowly tried out the whole “dropping your armor” thing around them. “It doesn’t look extravagant or appear to contain hidden features. Do you know anything about it, Li Gan-san?” They all turned to look at the Sage that was also staring at the astrolabe in interest.

“I’ve seen one or two,” he told them. “But most of these are believed to have been destroyed when the Alvs were wiped out. It’s for measuring distance of celestial bodies, yes?” At their nods he continued. “Then most of them would have been destroyed when the buildings that held them were razed to the ground. No other race has expressed much interest beyond Theldesia like the Alvs did, and so maintaining their functionality would not have been a priority. In fact…” he paused for a moment to look more closely at the device, “this appears to have more named stars on it than any I’ve come across.”

The silence that stretched between them all was strangely tense, and Naotsugu couldn’t quite explain why. “So the entirety of astronomy was lost with the Alvs?” Shiroe asked, sounding horrified, before he caught himself. “No, that can’t be it. What about seafarers? They were bound to keep a mariner’s astrolabe on hand. Was astronomy outside of the purpose of navigation erased? Astrometry? Cosmology?” He went silent after that, and Naotsugu was beginning to pick up on the issue.

Shiroe was an engineer, and to hear that an entire branch of science was wiped off the map beyond the basics? To know that it would never drive the People of the Land to improve what they currently had in the direction of space? It had to disturb him, even a little. “Let’s go back to camp,” he finally said, breaking the strange air between them all. “We’ll eat some of the food Nyanta-hanchou gave us and figure out where to head next.”

His friend let out a breath and slipped the astrolabe into his pack. “Sounds good,” he agreed, and the shrimp next to him vanished to find a place up in the trees. The Sage looked concerned for Shiroe, but didn’t say anything about it and instead asked about how far the Enchanter had gotten on that gigantic spellbook he was making.

After they’d all settled down in front of a fire and drew some of the Chief’s food out Shiroe looked over at the bag they had pulled the food out of and asked, concerned, “How much food did you guys bring?”

Naotsugu waved him off. “A few weeks’ worth. Don’t worry, we have plans for if we run out.” Or rather, they had an _item_ for if they ran out, and Naotsugu laughed at the thought of his friend’s face when he realized what was happening.

The shrimp seemed to read his mind again and shot him a glare before turning back to Shiroe. “My lord, I believe you said Naotsugu would be on watch tonight as he slept so much while we were travelling.”

Shiroe looked at her in surprise, probably having not thought about that since he said it. “That’s correct. Thank you for reminding me, Akatsuki.”

Naotsugu could all but notice the way the sentence ended abruptly, like he’d been planning to add an honorific before remembering her telling him not to and had to stifle another laugh as Shiroe looked back at his food in an effort to seem casual and the tiny ninja’s eyes nearly sparkled in the wake of Shiroe’s words. “Ah, come on Shiro,” he complained half-heartedly, subsiding with a grumble when the tiny Assassin shot him a glare and tensed in clear preparation to knee him in the face if he kept it up.

He wasn’t really bothered by it either way. He _did_ get a lot of sleep in the wagon, and he could always take a nap once they were on the road again.

They continued talking for a few hours, trading jokes and regaling the Sage with tales from their days with the Tea Party while Akatsuki pretended to not be interested but listened attentively whenever anyone she knew was brought up. She, in return, told them stories of other Adventurers she’d ran into while she was still a solo player and how they would take her disposition (role playing, Naotsugu easily translated, after she’d said the word with a telling glance in Li Gan’s direction).

Slowly, they all began to give in to their exhaustion, everyone but Naotsugu making themselves comfortable in their sleeping rolls and dropping off. Soon only he and Shiroe were awake, the Enchanter having retrieved the astrolabe and begun staring at it again.

Naotsugu watched him for a little bit, but Shiroe just started staring at the night sky instead as if he were looking for something but wasn’t sure where to start. With a tiny roll of his eyes, Naotsugu grabbed a stick and lobbed it at his friend, grinning when he jumped and shot him an irritated look. “What’s on your mind, oh great strategist?”

Shiroe’s look faded away until it returned to the thoughtful one he’d had earlier. “I’m not entirely sure,” he said. “A lot of things, I suppose. Did the Alvs have more devices for studying the stars? Did they have anything on the moon? The PTR was up there; does that mean anything? Why were they studying the stars? They were more interested in magical technology than in astronomy from the look of things. Did they believe they could utilize something in space for their devices? Were they right?” He paused to run a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. “All of this just asks more questions than it answers.”

Naotsugu listened to him vent and gently tossed a nearby cloth at his friend, cutting him off. “You won’t find those answers right now I don’t think, Shiro. But who knows,” he grinned a little and leaned over like he wanted to share a secret, “maybe we’ll find some answers on this journey.”

Shiroe sighed but put the astrolabe away. “You’re right.” He didn’t sound bothered to give up on his thoughts right then, and Naotsugu was relieved. It looked like Shiroe _could_ relax and let go of something if it didn’t involve anyone else. “Let’s try and find another ruin,” he decided, yawning and slipping into his roll. “Maybe it will have more clues.”

“Sure thing,” Naotsugu said, making a note to tell everyone the new plan in the morning. “Good night.”

He heard a murmur answer him back, then Shiroe fell asleep as well.

* * *

“So Shiroe, Naotsugu-yan, and Akatsuki-chan are all traveling to get away from the city?” Marielle asked, her face tilted down a little as she contemplated this new information.

Next to Nyanta, Minori fidgeted. She really should have checked with Nyanta about this before she just charged ahead, she scolded herself. Nyanta was the acting guild master and if he didn’t want to inform someone of a guildmate’s location it was his choice. But she still thought this was the best route to take to improve the city as a whole. So she bit her lip and stayed silent as Nyanta took a sip of the tea he’d set out.

“That’s right, nya,” the Werecat confirmed, putting his cup down and leaning back in his seat. “Akatsukicchi, Naotsuguchi, and I had spoken privately when they came to me with their concerns regarding the town’s general hostility toward Shiroechi and how they were treating him. Even if none of them did anything to him, such an atmosphere isn’t healthy, nya. Shiroechi was already responding to it by holing himself up in our hall and we didn’t want him to close himself off from us as well. When discussing what could be done, Akatsukicchi suggested a journey outside of the city, nya.” He paused for a moment and tapped his fingers on his arm. “And I agreed that this was the best course of action, nya,” he added.

Marielle was quiet for a minute as she thought about what the older Adventurer said, and Minori took that moment to risk a glance at him. He didn’t look bothered, but was watching Marielle closely as if trying to read her thoughts. As if feeling her gaze his eyes slid over to her and Nyanta gave her a smile before looking back at Marielle as she spoke. “Why tell me all of this, though?” She asked. “I can ask the younger members if they’ve heard anything in the town like rumors about Shiroe, but that’s all I can really do.”

She sounded distressed, and Nyanta leaned over to put a hand on her shoulder in comfort. “Now, now. I think you’re selling yourself quite short right now, nya.” But rather than continue, he shot Minori a look, and she jumped into the conversation.

“I’m sorry if you didn’t want to hear all of this, Marielle-san,” Minori began, hiding her hands in the sleeves of her top as she wrung them nervously. “Akiba is our home now, so knowing that something dark is starting here is scary. But that’s why I _wanted_ you to know,” she finally got out. “You care that Shiroe-san can’t walk down the street without getting suspicious glares. You care that the town is spreading nasty rumors about him. And you’re one of the most listened-to members of the Round Table! If you can try to get people to stop blaming Shiroe-san for every not-perfect thing the Council does, then it _has_ to improve other people’s attitudes towards him overall. 

“I just…we can’t do this alone, Marielle-san,” she admitted in a small voice, her grip tight on her sleeves. “We’re Shiroe-san’s guild, no one will care if we defend him from their words. We need your help, or nothing will get better.”

Marielle was quiet for a moment before she looked up at Minori and Nyanta, her face set. “I thank you for telling me about this, Minori-chan.” Despite her words she sounded almost threatening. “But don’t think you have to beg me for help, and don’t think you shouldn’t tell me something simply because I might not ‘want to hear it’. If there is one thing I’ve learned about being a guild leader, it is that I must hear everything to make an informed decision, whether I want to or not.” Finally, she smiled a little and the tension in the room evaporated like mist in the rising sun. “Besides, Shiroe’s always been a good friend, helping my younger members get settled. And he didn’t need to help us save Serara, but he offered to without a second thought. Of course I’ll help you however I can.”

Minori felt her cheeks ache from the force of her smile as she beamed at the woman. “Thank you so much, Marielle-san!” As she, Nyanta, and Marielle began a more in depth discussion of what could be done to improve the city’s regard of Shiroe, Minori felt the weight on her shoulders begin to lighten.

* * *

The next day their little travelling group managed to settle their carriage in a town and explore the nearby ruin, but they didn’t find anything new. Shiroe looked troubled as they exited the dungeon, but Li Gan was able to set him to rights. “It’s not as if every ruin belongs to the Alvs,” he reminded their friend. “Certainly more than just Alv settlements were destroyed during the war between them and the other races.”

“I suppose,” Shiroe conceded, but something in the almost mystified look he shot the Elf made warning bells go off in Naotsugu’s head. He looked like something the Sage had said had surprised him, and not in a good way. Eventually Shiroe shrugged. “I suppose we can just continue on hitting some of the other ruins as we go to wherever you guys had decided and see if we can find anything else,” he said, and it was fortunate for Naotsugu and Akatsuki that he was in the back and talking to Li Gan as they shot each other a look.

They hadn’t really charted out a map of places they wanted to go beyond choosing Narrowmount and setting off. While they were hoping to do some of the quests there before swinging up north, that was the extent of their planning.

Naotsugu rolled his shoulders back and said, with all the bravado he could manage, “That should be easy! We may not have a fully filled out map right now, but visiting the ruins shouldn’t be a problem at all!”

He cringed a little at the glare the shrimp shot him, offended with him announcing their complete lack of a detailed plan to their strategist, but Shiroe didn’t say anything. Naotsugu shot a glance back at him and found Shiroe staring into the middle distance, lost in thought. “A fully filled out map?” he asked to no one, and they watched as he reached into his bag but didn’t pull anything out.

Akatsuki drifted over to him, concerned. “My lord? Are you alright?” she asked, and Shiroe startled like he’d be poked awake.

“I’m fine,” he answered, more out of reflex than a real answer, before turning to Li Gan. “Where can I find a copy of a star map?”

“Shiro?” Naotsugu finally piped up, confused with the non sequitur.

His friend turned back to him and Akatsuki, the feverish light of realization in his eyes. “I think the stars have changed,” he said.


End file.
